Raw Deal
by Kei-chan1
Summary: (Ch 2 uploaded!) Six months after escaping from planet... Riddick’s life is going the way he wants it to. What happens when he crash-lands on another planet with someone alot like, yet completely different from, Carolyn?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer:  I don't own Pitch Black.... nor can I claim the rights to Riddick.. though it I did... ooooh, think of the possibilities.  ^__^

Summary:  Six months after escaping from planet... Riddick's life is going the way he wants it to.  Then someone shows up, and, with mercs on his tail again, the two are off running...

Raw Deal

By: Kei-chan

Chapter One:  Remembrance

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He remembered all too clearly the events that took place on the desert planet.  The seven people who lost their lives to the cannibalistic creatures remained in his head when he closed his eyes.  One stuck out more than the others, and every time she entered his mind, he had to blink back tears.  Richard B. Riddick doesn't cry, ever.

In the weeks following his escape from the planet, Riddick had stayed briefly with Imam and Jack on New Mecca, but the authorities weren't entirely convinced that he had been killed on the planet; so inevitably, the time had come for him to move again.  Jack had cried, asked him to take her along.  He didn't know what to do.  No one had ever cried over him before, it had taken him by surprise.

Thankfully, Imam had rescued him, saying that where Riddick was going was no place for a young lady.  Jack had sniffled, but agreed and made Riddick promise that he'd go back and visit them.

He began working as a mechanic on various ships to get around the universe.  The pilots usually paid well, and didn't ask questions.  He had gotten transport to Narwok, a planet on the edge of the chartered universe.  Most inhabitants were merchants, who always had ships constantly flying in with cargo.

Riddick enjoyed Narwok.  The people kept to themselves, not caring about anyone else, the police were all bumbling fools, who couldn't catch a shoplifter if they were in a wheelchair, and the housing was cheap.  He lived in a high rise, on the top floor.  From there, he had access to the roof if ever he needed to run.

The apartment was comfortable, but minimal.  Riddick had the essentials, and not much more.  A bed to sleep in, a dresser for his clothes, a couch in the living room, a television, and a computer were the only decorations.  He also had a small table and a couple chairs in the small dining area, though he rarely used them.

Riddick lay in bed, staring at the dark ceiling above him.  He had had the dream again.  The one where he tried to save Carolyn, but she was still torn away from him.  He had woken up in a cold sweat, body trembling, sheets pooled around his waist and twisted.  She haunted him.  He saw her everywhere he went, unable to get away.  If he didn't have a dream about her, then he had nightmares about the creatures.  It had been six months since crash-landing on the planet, and not a day went by that he didn't think about Carolyn, and blame himself for her death.

If he hadn't been so selfish, if he had just dragged them along with him to the skiff, they all would have gotten off the planet with no problems.  But instead, he thought of only himself, of getting himself off the planet, and fuck the others.  In doing so, he had sealed their fates.  Carolyn had managed to get out of the cave, and stared him down, just before he took off.

She had even knocked him over, intent on going back for the others.

He was stupid, he knew.  He shouldn't have sent them ahead with all the light.  But, he didn't think about it because of his eyes.  He had acted on impulse, and then cursed himself.  When the two creatures had trapped him in the alley, he knew it was over.  All he could do was take out as many of them as he could, and let the others get away.

But Carolyn had surprised him once again, coming back for him.  She was so strong, lifting him, holding him up and trying to get them back to the skiff.  He had already thought it to be over, expected the devil to show up and drag him down to hell.  Instead, an angel showed up to take him back to the land of the living.  She had sacrificed herself for him, even after telling him that she wouldn't die for him.

Riddick sat up, rubbed his head.  "Dammit," he muttered.  He swung his legs over the bed, walked naked into the bathroom.  Turning the water on in the shower, he let the hot liquid run over him, washing away the memories to seem like scenes from a movie he had seen a long time ago.

Satisfied that the images had been successfully pushed away for the day, Riddick finished washing and stepped out of the shower.  He dried himself with a towel, and walked back into his bedroom.  Grabbing clothes out of his dresser, he dressed quickly in a pair of black pants and a tight-fitting, long-sleeved, black shirt, and walked out to his kitchen barefoot.

He made some coffee, and turned on the television to catch the news.

"Authorities are still investigating as to whether convicted murderer and escapee Richard B. Riddick died on the planet just off the Sol Track shipping lanes.  Some officers are saying that Riddick is still at large, and extremely dangerous.  All Riddick activity stopped after the Hunter-Gratzner, a merchant vessel, crashed on the planet six months ago.  Of the three survivors, one was not listed on the ships passenger list.  All three survivors insisted that Riddick had been killed, but authorities are simply not convinced."

He chuckled.  _Those assholes will never give up, will they?_ he thought.  He drained his cup of coffee, feeling the caffeine begin to course through his veins, making him alert.

Checking the time, he slipped his boots on and left the apartment, riding the elevator down to the ground floor.  He nodded to the clerk at the desk, who smiled back.

"'Mornin' Mr. Wolfe."

Riddick went out the revolving door, walked down the street.  He was on his way to the docking bay, where he worked as an unloading worker.  He simply unloaded cargo from the incoming ships, and wheeled them to the storage bays.

He arrived five minutes early, and went straight to work.  Riddick worked fast and silently, doing his job more quickly and efficiently than six of the rest of the workers.

Eight hours later, Riddick's shift was over.  He clocked out, and walked a short distance to his favorite restaurant.  Once there, he ordered some food and ate in peace.  He was used to eating alone, though he often wondered what it would be like to eat with someone sitting across from him, discussing their days.

After he had eaten, he started home, and was walking along an alley.  He felt it then, a presence, one he had felt before, but was never able to pinpoint.  This time, he slowed to a creep, sniffed the air.  He smelled a woman's perfume, as well as anxiety.  Coming to a stop right near a wall, he narrowed his eyes.  The woman was just on the other side, waiting for him to walk pass.  Instead, he reached around, grabbed clothing, and jerked the woman around the wall to face him.

She gasped, but didn't cry out.  He pushed her against the wall in front of him, and stared at her.  A dark hood was over her head, and a scarf around her face, leaving only her eyes visible.  There was something about those eyes…

"Get your fuckin' hands off me," she growled, but he held her shoulders firmly.

Riddick pulled off his goggles, blinked in the growing darkness of the alley.  He stared again at the eyes.  Why did they look so familiar?

The woman didn't dare move.  She pressed her back into the wall, met Riddick's silvery glowing eyes.  He didn't smell the least bit of fear in her, which intrigued him.  But the familiarity in her eyes was driving him insane!

"Take off your scarf and hood," he said in a low voice.  The woman was reluctant, but finally threw the hood back and pulled the scarf away from her face.

Riddick took a step back, surprise clearly etched on his face.  The woman who stood before him stared back at him, unmoving.  No emotion crossed her face, her eyes didn't blink, she simply watched him, as if she expected the reaction she got.

_It can't be, can it?  She died, I know she died… but then how is she here?_ the thoughts were running wildly through his head, and for a second, Riddick lost his cool.  He got his emotions in check quickly though, and regarded the woman with a dark look.  "You're supposed to be dead," he said quietly, angry that voice sounded so small.  She stared defiantly back at him, her eyes flashing in slight irritation.

"She is," the woman replied.  "I'm not who you think I am."

_What?_ Riddick shook his head.  The stance, the height, weight, the _eyes_, they all screamed one name to him, so loud that he thought he'd have to cover his ears.  "Carolyn," he whispered.

The woman smiled a bitter smile, shook her head.  "No, Riddick.  I'm not Carolyn.  You know Carolyn's dead, you were there."

"Wha… who?" he stumbled over his words.  His rage was rising, rage in himself.  Sure, he'd fantasized seeing Carolyn over the six months since she'd been killed, but he never expected it to actually happen.  Yet, here before him was this woman who looked so much like her.  Her hair was longer, and from what Riddick could tell through his limited eyesight, it was also a different color.  But the face, all her other features were so… so.. _Carolyn._

"My name is Andrea," the woman said, with _Carolyn's_ voice.  "Andrea Fry."

"Andrea?"  Riddick could scarcely breathe.  _What the FUCK is going on?_

She nodded.  "Carolyn was my twin sister."

Then it dawned on him.  _My God,_ he thought.  _Twin sisters…_  "You're Carolyn's twin?  How long have you been following me?"

"Four months," she replied.  "I've been searching the known universe for you, Richard B. Riddick."

For a moment, Riddick thought someone was pulling a cruel joke on him, sending in this woman who looked like Carolyn to catch him.  But another look at her eyes and he knew she was telling the truth.  Riddick could smell lies like he could smell fear, and this woman had neither.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Andrea glanced around, taking her eyes off Riddick for the first time.  "Maybe this isn't the place to talk."

He nodded in agreement.  "Okay then."  He turned to walk away, and glanced to see if the woman was following.  She took a step forward, then jumped back when a figure fell in front of her.  Riddick could see from the uniform and shotgun he carried that he was a merc.

"I'm taking you in, Andy," the merc said.

"No."  It was only one word, but Andrea said it with such authority and conviction, the merc took a step back.  "I'm not going back."

The merc who had leapt from the roof of the building laughed.  "Yes, you are."  He moved forward and shoved Andrea back into the side of the building.  Her head smacked off the brick and she slid down the wall, unconscious.

Riddick crept up behind the merc, and before he could say another word, Riddick's shiv laid his throat open.  The merc dropped soundlessly to the ground, blood pooling around his lifeless head.

Cradling the woman who looked so much like Carolyn in his arms, Riddick walked quickly down the alley and to his apartment.

The clerk raised a hand in greeting, then raised an eyebrow when he saw Andrea.  "She had too much to drink," Riddick said shortly.  "And she didn't tell me where she lived."

The man behind the desk smiled.  "Say no more, Mr. Wolfe."

_Like I was going to you fuckin' pansy,_ Riddick thought.  He stepped into the elevator and rode up to his apartment.  Once there, he laid Andrea on the bed and left her there to rest.

While she slept, Riddick went into the room he had turned into a gym and took out his aggression on the punching bag, letting the thoughts and emotions roll over him.

_This is too fucked up.  Carolyn has a twin sister?  A twin sister wanted by mercs?  Christ, she looks so much like her!_

Riddick hit the heavy bag until he could barely lift his arms.  Then, he sat down on the weight bench, breathing hard, and rested his head in his hands.  _It would have been so much better if I hadn't known._

Letting out a growl, he rose to his feet and went in for a shower.  He would have to find out what exactly Andrea wanted, and why she was being hunted by mercs.

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She awoke slowly to darkness.  Her stomach did a giddy roll as her first thought was that she had been captured by the merc.  But, wait.  She was on a bed.  No merc would put her on a bed, he would have chained her to a cold metal wall.  Her next thought was that maybe Riddick had taken care of the merc and brought her back to his apartment.

Andrea pushed herself into a sitting position, scanned the nearly pitch black room carefully.  She couldn't make anything out, but there was someone else there.  It was Riddick, she knew.  His presence filled the room, just as his smell filled her nose.  She looked in the direction she knew he was in, and stared, waiting for him to speak.

Riddick was standing against the one wall, arms crossed over his chest, watching Andrea.  He almost started when she turned her eyes on him and just stared.  _The room is completely dark, there's no way she can see me…_ he thought.

Finally, he heard her voice drift into his ears, irritated and annoyed.  "Are you just gonna fuckin' stand there all night or are you gonna say something?"

He felt a smile tugging at his lips.  She was definitely more vocal than Carolyn, more like him.  Andrea exuded a toughness that Carolyn had lacked, even faced by all those creatures.  Carolyn had been frightened of Riddick, even after they had to work together.  Andrea was fearless.

Pushing himself away from the wall, Riddick started toward the bed.  He ordered the lights as dim as they would go without being off so Andrea could see him.  She gazed up at him as he approached.

"You have some explaining to do," he told her.

She nodded.  "I know."  _What can I say?_ she thought.

Riddick sat on the edge of the bed, regarded her with his magnificent silver eyes.  Andrea let her gaze wander over him.  He was beautiful.  Power poured out of every pore of his body.  He was built like a statue, perfectly formed muscles, chiseled face.  Andrea had to shake herself to keep from staring at Riddick any longer.

"You were the last person who saw my sister alive, I want to know what happened."

The man before her blinked back his surprise.  "How do you know that?" he asked carefully.

Andrea shrugged.  "You think you're the only one who can hack into computer databases?"

"Richard B. Riddick died on that planet, so how did you –?"

"It's so simple, Riddick."  She paused a moment before continuing.  "There were three survivors on that planet.  Imam, Jack, and Todd Polka."

Riddick felt a smile form at the name.  Jack had been the one to suggest Polka, then collapsed into giggles over it.  He used it anyway, for lack of anything better.

"I went into every database I could find, and Todd Polka doesn't exist," she went on.  "When Imam and Jack were questioned about you, they said you died in the crash… but if that were true, then how did they get to the skiff in the dark?  That's when I figured out that you had to be the one who got them there."

"Okay," Riddick agreed.  "But what makes you so sure that I was the last to see Carolyn alive?"

Andrea flashed him a grin.  "When the others were asked about what happened to my sister, their stories didn't match up.  There were inconsistencies that led me to believe that it was you."

He shook his head, knowing that Andrea must have taken a lot of time puzzling through the events on the planet.  "What about the merc?"

A shield in the form of a blank expression on her face went up immediately.  "I'm kind of a wanted woman."

"Kind of?"

She sighed sadly.  "Yeah, they want me to go back to the Slam."

Now Riddick was confused.  What could a girl like Andrea have done to be sentenced to Slam?  "What'd you do, rob a bank?" he sneered.

"Christ!" she muttered.  He felt her anger flare up.  "I've killed some people, okay?"

His face remained its usual expressionless slate, but he raised an eyebrow at Andrea, knowing she'd crack under the scrutiny of his gaze.  
"Okay, fine!" she yelled, throwing her hands up.  "I'm wanted on three different planets."

"Which are?"

"Earth, for killing my drunk son-of-a-bitch of a father, the Tangiers System for killing three men who tried to rape me in a back alley, and on Largon."  She spoke in a defeated tone, but began to stumble over her words when she got to the third.

"Why are you wanted on Largon?"  Riddick knew he could easily find out, but he wanted to hear her say it.  He had to know if she was a stone-cold killer, or one that killed for survival.

Andrea looked up at him suddenly, tears glistening in her eyes.  "The Largon Massacre ring a bell?"

_Largo Massacre?_ he thought, furrowing his eyebrows trying to remember.  When the knowledge he was searching for dawned on him, he stared at Andrea, who was avoiding his eyes.  "You're Andy Fate?"

She nodded.

_But, she couldn't possibly…_ He shook his head to clear his thoughts.  "Damn," he murmured.  "No wonder the mercs are after you."  A momentary flash of rage toward her hit him as he realized she could bring the mercs down on him, as well, but it dissipated as quickly as it has shown.  This was Carolyn's twin sister, and if she was in trouble, then he owed it to Carolyn to protect her.

_Protect her?!_  What was he thinking?  He had never had the urge to protect anyone, except maybe Jack, but that was a strange thing altogether.  Vaguely, he was aware of his name being uttered.

"Riddick?  You with me?"

Andrea was staring at him, a cold expression on her beautiful face.

Riddick jumped, looked up at her.  "Yeah,"

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Happened?" he echoed.

"On the planet, with Carolyn."

_Shit._  He didn't want to go back there again, but even as she asked the question, his mind took him back, to the pitch black of the planet, the shrieking and whooping of the creatures, the smell of death, of fear... He could suddenly feel the coolness of the planet after the suns where hidden behind the planet.  Shivering only slightly, Riddick recounted the events of his time on the planet, of the ship crashing, of escaping, of the one settler getting killed.  He delved into telling how they found out about the coming eclipse, and the weirdness of them landing on the planet the same day the eclipse would happen.  He told of Carolyn taking charge over the merc Johns, who wasn't happy about it, and he told of her bravery against him, and the creatures of the planet.

When it got to the part where Riddick told them to hide in the cave, he became disgusted with himself.  "I was an asshole," he admitted.  "I didn't think I could get them there, and I didn't want to have to watch the creatures tear them apart, so I made them hide.  But your sister... she got out, and confronted me.  No one had ever done that before.  She convinced me to go back for the others."  He finished with how Carolyn came back for him, and got him to his feet, only to be torn away from him by one of the fuckers.

He felt exhausted and weary after telling his tale.  Andrea sat on the bed, eyes downcast, shoulders shaking.  She was crying, he could tell, and knowing that he was the cause made him feel worse.

Standing to leave her alone, he was surprised to feel her hand grab his own.

"Wait," she said.  "I know that you did all you could, and that my sister did what she had to.  For her to go after you like that in the dark, it just shows that you must have meant a damned lot to her.  And for you to be who you are now shows the opposite as well."

Riddick stared down at her, his face a mask of some unknown emotion.  Truthfully, he didn't know what the fuck to think.  "Feel free to use the shower or find food," he said, choosing to leave what she had said open.  He needed to think about all this, and he couldn't do it with Carolyn's twin sister around.  "I'll be back in a little while."  He pulled his hand from hers and left the apartment.

Andrea watched him go, feeling more relieved that she had expected.  Hearing about what happened to her sister from the man who had seen her go did much for her state of mind.  She sat on the bed for a few more moments, not exactly thinking, not exactly _not_ thinking.  Then she jumped up.  Riddick's idea about a shower sounded like a good idea, so she made her way into the bathroom.

As the hot water cascaded down her back, warming her aches away, Andrea couldn't help thinking about Riddick.  He was intimidating beyond belief, but try as she might, she felt no fear toward him.  _Carolyn always did have good taste in men,_ she thought.

For the first month after hearing about her sister's demise, Andrea blamed Riddick for her death.  She was angry with him, hated him, really, and had thought of nothing more than exacting revenge on him.  Then she got the letter.  Carolyn must have written it sometime after the eclipse – the handwriting was shaky and unsure – and hid it in the skiff knowing someone would find it.  Andrea had gotten it sometime after she had accepted that Carolyn was gone forever.

_Dear Andy,_

          _By the time you get this, one of two things has happened.  One, I made it off the planet and things are fine.  Or, the more likely of the two, I'm dead.  I wanted you to know from my own mind what happened._

          _I enjoyed piloting the Hunter-Gratzner.  Something hit it when we were in cryo-sleep, and send it careening toward the planet.  I tried to level it out, but it wasn't working.  I panicked.  I thought the only thing to do was to dump the passenger cabin.  Thankfully, Owens rigged it so the doors wouldn't close, and I couldn't dump it.  Somehow, I managed to set her down level, but not before losing most of the passengers, and Owens.  There were eleven of us to start with.  Now, as I'm writing this, we're down to seven._

          _There was an eclipse, and these creatures that only come out in the dark are in their full glory.  There are two people here.  One of them I can trust... and you wouldn't believe it, but he's Richard B. Riddick.  The other one, who's a merc, is the biggest asshole on this side of the universe.  He keeps trying to take control of what we're doing.  If I let him, none of us will get off this planet.  Riddick's the only one who can lead us to the emergency skiff.  I trust him, maybe a little too much.  He just needs to trust himself._

          _Christ, Andy... if you were here, you'd know what to do.  You'd make things okay, and calm the people down.  I'm going crazy.  I don't know if I can handle all this responsibility._

          _The main reason for this letter is to let you know... If I don't make it off the planet... I know without a doubt, that I was killed by the creatures.  Like I said, I trust Riddick, and I know he won't kill me.  Johns might try, but I think Riddick will take care of him first.  Andy.. he's gorgeous... seriously.  You and he would get along great.  In fact, after you get this letter, you should find him and ask what happened to me._

          _I love you, little sister.  I'll always be there, even when I'm gone.  Who won, the tortoise or the hare?_

_Care_

The letter had prompted her to try to find Riddick.  Her search lasted four long months.  She lived out of a suitcase most days, meeting contacts, hacking computers.  Finally, she found him on Narwok, loading and unloading cargo ships.  There, she had watched, and waited.  Her waiting was cut short when she realized that a merc was after her, so she orchestrated the little run-in with Riddick, knowing he'd think she was Carolyn.  They looked nearly exactly alike, the only differences being that Andrea's hair was dark red and pin-straight, and her eyes were almost a cat-like green.  The other difference, and the biggest one, was her personality.

Where Carolyn was usually quiet and subdued, Andrea was opinionated and brash.  She never had qualms about telling someone exactly what she thought of them.  Her sister was tough as nails, but knew when things were getting out of hand.  Andrea, however, was defiant to a fault, letting no one get close... except her twin.

The two sisters were inseparable growing up.  They did everything together... but then Carolyn moved away.  She had been accepted to the pilot academy when they were 19.  That was the first time Andrea had been without her.  That's when things got bad.

Their father started drinking after he lost his job.  The alcohol made him violent, and one night, in a drunken rage, he killed their mother.  Carolyn was on a remote planet, and wasn't given clearance to leave, so Andrea took matters into her own hands.  She waited for their father to come home from the bar, and when he walked into the house, she hit him in the head with a frying pan, then stabbed him with his own hunting knife.

That was what started Andrea running.  She changed her name, jumped from planet to planet, looking for her sister, but to no avail.  She killed the three men who had tried to rape her and hopped a ship to Largon.  That's when everything fell apart.  The guilt of not being able to stop her mother's death, and of killing her father and those three other men caused Andrea to suffer a nervous breakdown.  She got drunk one night, and while stumbling back to her apartment, had the strangest urge to buy cigarettes.  She went into a grocery store, and, upon seeing that she had no money left, and being asked quite rudely by the manager to leave at once, went back to the deli section, picked up a meat cleaver, and lost her mind.

When it was done, ten people were dead, three of them being children.

Andrea was on the run again.

She jumped when she realized the water in the shower was now cold, and turned it off in a hurry.  She towel-dried her hair, then wrapped the towel around her body.  As she stepped out of the shower, she was met by the imposing figure of Riddick, who was standing in the door.

"Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed, and jumped back.  The floor of the bathroom was slippery, however, and she went crashing backward into the wall.

Riddick was staring at her blankly, seemingly not amused at all at her reaction.  Andrea picked herself up, adjusted the towel around her.

"Looks like we have to leave," Riddick said.

"What do you mean?"  She followed him out of the bathroom, anger rising at his casualness.

"I mean, we have to leave," he repeated.

"WHY do we have to leave?" she pressed.

Riddick whirled around, his silvery eyes boring into hers.  "Because the mercs know you're here!  And if they know you're here, then they'll find me!"

She took an involuntary step backward, taken aback at his rage.  He spun away from her, threw her clothes at her feet.  "Get dressed," he growled.  He went to his dresser and pulled some clothes from the drawers, stuffing them in a duffle bag.

Andrea pulled her black pants on, and her white tank top over her head in silence.  Riddick didn't wait for her and was already on his way out the door.  She stuffed her feet in her boots and ran after him.

"Where are you going?" she asked him, when she had finally caught up with him.

"I gotta find a way off the planet," he muttered.

Andrea shook her head.  "No, you don't.  I got it covered."

Riddick peered down at her, curiousity piqued.  "You got what covered?"

She grinned, and in that instant, Riddick thought Carolyn had come back.  "I have a ship.  It's in docking bay 45."

"Do they know it's yours?"

"Hell no," she answered.  "It's under the name of a peanut salesman on Earth."

"Fine then," Riddick said.  "Let's get moving."

They ran up the stairs to the roof, and Riddick led Andrea down the fire escape.  They walked quickly, avoiding the main roads, and finally arrived at the docks.  Andrea took the lead now, nearly running toward her ship, "The Phoenix."  Riddick followed behind, his strides brisk and even.

When they reached the ship, which Riddick was surprised to see was quite huge, Andrea punched in the security code, and the ramp lowered.

"Mind if I drive?" he asked.  Without waiting for an answer, he strapped himself into the pilot seat and fired the engine up.  Andrea didn't argue with him, but instead secured things in the cargo area and joined him in the cockpit right as he was lifting off.  The ship lurched into movement, sending her flying backward into the co-pilot seat.

"Hang on to your ass," he remarked, his eyes not leaving the space in front of the ship.

With practiced skill, he maneuvered the ship easily into space, laid in a course to New Mecca, and turned on the autopilot.  When he had done so, he turned to Andrea.  "I hope you're happy," he muttered.

"Why would I be happy?  Now I have not only myself to worry about, but you, too."

Riddick growled, took his goggles off.  "Andrea, you best just worry about yourself.  I was enjoying my life on Narwok, and now it's all fucked up because you had to find me for closure."

Andrea felt tears of anger well up in her eyes.  "Fuck you, Riddick!" she screamed.  She jumped up from the chair and ran from the cockpit.  Riddick heard a distant door slam.  He looked down, sighed.  A piece of paper lay on the floor at his feet.  He picked it up, examined it.  It was old looking, and he could tell that it had been handled numerous times.  He unfolded it carefully, and began to read.

"Dear Andy," it begun.  As Riddick realized that Carolyn had managed to write a letter to her sister, he knew why she had come searching for him.  "She knew," he whispered.  "Carolyn knew she wasn't getting off that planet."


	2. Crash... and bobcats??

Disclaimer:  The only thing I can say I own in this fic is Andrea... but Pitch Black isn't mine... and Riddick isn't mine... dammit.

Author's Notes:  Really long chapter here... I wasn't even aware of how long it was until I finished it... and by then it was too late to fix it.  Oh well.. hope ya'll enjoy.  And.. mucho mucho thanks to Patlyn23 for being the only one to review this.

Raw Deal

Chapter 2:  Crash... and bobcats?

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Andrea sat on her bed, staring blankly at the floor.  Riddick was right, she had fucked up his life.  She had no right invading his privacy and bringing the mercs down on him.  "Fuck!" she whispered.  "Carolyn, what would you do now?"

he threw herself backward, stared at the ceiling.  She had stopped crying long ago.  Now, a distant feeling of sadness settled over her.  It was an emotion she was used to.  After her sister had passed, she shoved everything away, happiness, sadness... the only things that remained were her rage and the pain.

"You're an idiot, Andy," she said, berating herself.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far."

Andrea nearly jumped out of her skin.  Riddick leaned against the door, looking casual enough to make her want to puke.  She propped herself on her elbows and glared at him.  "What?"

He held up a folded piece of paper.  She recognized it right away as the letter.  "Where did you get that?" she asked quietly.

Riddick shrugged.  "Fell outta your pocket.  I didn't know she did this."

Andrea slumped backward again.  "Yeah, she probably hid it in the skiff while she was doing sys checks."

She heard the heavy thudding of his boots as he drew near.  "This is why you came after me, isn't it?"

"Isn't it fucking obvious, Riddick?  That's how I knew everything."

He sat down on the edge of the bed, held the letter toward her.  "Who did win?" he asked.

The question made her sit up.  A quiet chuckle worked its way out of her.  "When we were kids, our mother used to tell us the story of the tortoise and the hare all the time.  It was our favorite story.  Care and I would get into arguments every time we heard it about who won.  I always said it was the hare because he was faster and more competitive.  Care said it was the tortoise because he was intelligent and the hare was lazy."

"So, who won?"

Andrea shook her head.  "I don't know... Mom never finished the tale because we were always arguing about it.  She told us that the tale ended the way we wanted it to, but it would never if we couldn't agree.  She was always like that, settling things easily.  My mom was wise... and loving, and kind... and that bastard took her from us!" she finished in a yell.

"Sounds like he deserved what you gave him," Riddick told her.  She looked up at him then, wide-eyed and her mouth open just slightly.  He stared back at her until she spoke.

"No one ever said that," she told him.  "They all told me I was a murderous bitch and that I'd burn in hell for killing my own father.  All except for Carolyn.  She knew what he was like.  His temper, his fury, his fists... she knew... and she didn't blame me."

Riddick set the letter on the bed, stood.  "You got another room on this ship where I can catch a few winks?"

"Yeah," she said.  She pointed out the door.  "Across the hall is a bedroom the same size as this one.  If you want a shower though, you have to take one in here."

"Gotcha."  She listened to his retreating steps with mild interest.  _Riddick, you are a piece of work,_ she thought.

Standing, she realized that she was exhausted, so she changed quickly into a pair of baggy lounge pants and a tank top, and crawled into bed.  "Lights off," she muttered.  She yawned, and closed her eyes, letting her body sink into the softness of her bed.  This ship was the only place she could ever really sleep well in.  She guessed it was because Carolyn had never been there and left an imprint on it, and she didn't feel haunted by her ghost.

As she drifted off to her usual dreamless sleep, a quick thought crossed her mind.  _I guess down there on that planet, the tortoise won._

-----------

Across the hall, Riddick lay on his back, goggles off, gazing up at the black ceiling.  Shit had happened way to fast for him, and he realized he was on the run in a ship belonging to the twin sister of a dead woman who had changed him.  In Andrea's presence, he seemed to take it all in stride, but in his mind, he was a wreck.

He wondered briefly what would have happened if he had never been caught by Johns, and they hadn't book passage on the Hunter-Gratzner.  Would he still be cruising around the galaxy, killing people because he could?  Would he have ever met someone like Carolyn Fry who challenged him to return to humanity?  Would he now be on a ship with a woman who fucked his senses up until he could barely stand?

It was a two-week trip to New Mecca.  A lot could happen in two weeks, he knew.  But this time, whatever was sent his way, he'd handle it.  And this time... he had a little help.

With those comforting thoughts in his mind, he drifted off into an easy, light sleep.

He awoke a few hours later, feeling strangely refreshed.  Except that he wanted a shower... he wanted a shower bad.  Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he walked quietly across the hall and into Andrea's room.  He saw her, lying in bed, her blankets hanging on the floor.  He paused to study her.  He could see now, her face was just a little more angular than Carolyn's, not as round.  His eyes roamed lower.  Her chest was bigger, as well, and she had more muscle... much more muscle.  He picked up her blankets and draped them over her, before heading into the bathroom.

It happened while he was letting the water wash away the grime from the past day.  An alarm started going off, and the ship lurched.  It felt just like it had when the Hunter-Gratzner was knocked into the orbit of the planet.  He turned the water and rushed out of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around his waist as he ran.

Andrea was already in the cockpit, hands on the controls.

"What the fuck happened?" Riddick bellowed.

"A fucking satellite from God-knows-where just slammed into us!" she screamed.

He dropped himself into the co-pilot seat, grabbed the controls as well.  Out the view screen, he could see the stars streaking as the ship spun out of control, heading toward a planet.  _Just like last time,_ he thought.  "Why can't we get her under control?"

Andrea grunted as she pulled back as hard as she was able.  "Because the God damned satellite crushed our navigation unit!"

"Fuck!" Riddick exclaimed.  The planet was coming closer, the ship was spiraling toward it at a top-notch speed.  

"We're gonna crash!" Andrea screamed.

Riddick growled.  "The fuck we are!" he answered.  He took a deep breath, and pulled back with all his might.  Andrea helped, and the ship began to level out.  It was too late, she thought, seeing the ground rushing up to meet them.

The impact sent her flying out of the seat, crashing into a few metal cargo boxes.  The ship seemed to flip, and she fell toward the ceiling, then back down.  A box that had been secured to the ceiling dislodged itself and hit her in the head.  As the world went black, she saw Riddick, hanging on to the co-pilot seat, staring at her.

-------

The crash seemed to take forever.  Riddick waited, clutching the seat as hard as he could, for the ship to stop rolling and come a halt.  It did so, finally, and he stood up, vaguely aware that the towel he had wrapped around his waist was missing.  He rushed over to the pile of boxes that had landed on Andrea, started throwing them to the side.  He uncovered a leg, then another, and then a stomach, and finally arms, shoulders and a head.

She moaned, telling Riddick that she was still alive.  He left her there for a moment, moving as fast as he could to his room to get dressed.  He pulled on a pair of tan pants, with his customary tank top, only this time a white one.  His boots slid on his feet, and he tucked his shiv in the waistband of the pants.  Then, he made his way back down to the cockpit, carrying the little first-aid box Andrea kept in the room.

He knelt beside her, examined her head.  There was a small, but painful-looking cut above her eye.  Riddick pulled tape out of the med box and squeezed the cut while taping it shut.  He wiped the rest of the blood off Andrea's face with a gauze pad.  This brought a small groan from the woman.  She stirred, and her eyes flickered open.

"Riddick?"  She looked at him, confused.  Then, her eyes grew wide.  "We crashed, didn't we?"

He nodded soberly.  "We have to figure out where we are.  You have a cut, but it'll only give you a headache," he said, standing.  He offered her a hand, and pulled her to her feet.

"Oh, man," she moaned, grabbing her head.  "That hurts like a bitch."

Riddick went over to the hatch, turned it to open.  When nothing happened, he simply stood there, staring at it.

"Riddick?  What is it?" she asked.

"We're locked in," he said.

"What?"  Andrea took a few shaky steps forward, then dashed over to the hatch.  She pounded on it, then leaned against it and sighed.  "How the fuck do we get out of here?"

Riddick turned, scanned the interior of the cockpit.  They could use the cutting torch and drill a hole in the side, but that would leave them with a breach in the hull.  If there was already a hole, they could get out that way.  "We have to go through the ship, see if we have a breach in the hull anywhere that we can get out through."

Andrea looked down at the pajamas she was still wearing.  "First thing's first, though.  I have to change."

They picked their way over the cargo boxes that had fallen to the ladder that lead down to the rooms.  Riddick dropped down first, then helped Andrea down.  She swayed on her feet a little bit, still woozy from the bump on her head.  She steadied herself, then moved down the hall to her room.  Walking in, she saw the room looked like a tornado had gone through and threw things around.  Her bed was flipped over, and her clothes and everything else was scattered around.  She dug through things, found a pair of semi-baggy cargo pants and a black tank top with flames up the front.  She dug some more and found a pair of platform boots.  Then she found a brush and brushed her long hair, then twisted it up so it was off her neck.

Riddick waited out in the hall while she changed, hoping to whatever god that would listen that the planet was inhabited.  Inhabited by humans, his mind corrected.

Andrea joined him a moment later, straightening her shirt as she stepped out of the room.  "Okay," she said.  "Let's go."

As they moved through the ship, Riddick gazed at the sides with his shined eyes, searching for a breach.  He found one, finally, in the cargo hold.  What used to be the cargo hold, at least.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Andrea breathed.  The entire cargo hold was missing, leave a wide, gaping hole opening to the planet that lay before them.

Riddick turned to her, a grin on his face.  "Yes?"

Andrea ignored him, shuffling forward slowly, staring at the damage.  "It took me years to work up the credits to buy her, and now she's destroyed."

"She's not destroyed, she just has a sunroof now," Riddick remarked.

She looked at him sharply.  "I'm glad you find this amusing, Riddick.  But you didn't work your ass off waiting tables at a crummy spaceport diner on Lorilla."  She was pissed off, and didn't mind letting Riddick know it.

His smile faded.  "You're right.  I got mine the easy way.  Steal it."  _Or, at least you did,_ he reminded himself.  _This woman's sister changed all that..._

Andrea turned back to the hole, then walked through it to the planet that lay beyond.  It was grassy, Riddick thought with relief.  They had managed to crash into a wide field, with a large forest on one side.  So far, he didn't see any houses, but they fact that they were able to breathe told him that there had to be people on the planet.  As far as he knew, every habitable planet had at least a few colonies on it.

Problem was... he had been wrong before.

"All right."  Andrea turned back to him, crossed her arms over her chest.  "What's the plan?  Do we stay here and try to figure out some way to fix this hunk of junk, or do we go out there and try to find people?"

Riddick thought for a moment.  "The only way we can make this ship fly again is to have it in a garage for about four months.  That leaves us with venturing out there, and hoping that there's someone else here."

Andrea felt a cold shudder work its way through her.  "Great," she muttered.  "Just great."

The two set off, Riddick deciding to head west, so they knew where the ship was.  They're decision was to only go as far as they could until nightfall, then turn back to the ship and spend the night in the safety of their still-intact rooms.

Past the field, the forest was thick and in full bloom.  The canopy of leaves above them blocked out the blue sky and sun entirely, making it seem like it was already late evening.  The rich, earthy smell invaded Andrea's nostrils, and she breathed deeply, relishing in the scent of something she hadn't smelled for years... fresh air.

They walked slowly, creeping through bushes and around trees.  A few times, they practically had to get on their knees to move forward anymore.

Hours later, they reached a clearing.  So far, there had been no evidence of the planet being inhabited.  Riddick looked up, through a hole in the canopy of thick, green leaves.  The sky was now a dark, indigo blue, with a few stars shining in the distance.  "Getting toward night," he commented.  "Better head back."

Andrea leaned against a large tree, rested her hands on her knees.  "This outdoor walking stuff sucks."

"What's 'a matter?  Can't keep up?"

She cast Riddick a glare.  "I'm not used to gallivanting through forests, okay?"  Pushing herself away from the ancient-looking tree, she started back the way they had come.  "Well, come on, Riddick.  I want the comfort of my broken ship."

He chuckled, following her.

They had only gone about half a mile back in the direction they had come when Riddick grabbed Andrea and shoved her to the ground.

"Riddick!" she cried out.  "What the fuck are you dmmmph!"  The last word was muffled out by his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" he whispered fiercely.  He pulled his hand away, and Andrea saw him looking all around them.  "Listen."

She did, and that's when she heard it.  It was just a small rustling sound, like someone walking through tall grass.  Then a soft growling could be heard.  _Shit!_ her mind screamed.

Riddick was lying on top of her, watching the woods without his goggles on.  He pulled the shiv he always carried in the back of his pants out and looked once at Andrea.  "Stay here," he whispered.  He pushed himself off her and crawled away, leaving Andrea alone, lying on the cold, dewy forest floor.

She rolled over so she was on her stomach, looking all around her.  Riddick had already disappeared, so she listened, her ears straining to pick up every sound.

It was dead quiet in the wood, though, and she could only lie there, hoping that he came back soon.

A few moments passed, and Andrea nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud, deafening roar sounded.  The roar turned into a screeching yelp, then died out completely.  The silence that followed was one of the worst moments in Andrea's life.  She heard her breath coming in ragged gasps, knew that if she didn't calm down she would hyperventilate.  An attempted deep breath only resulted in her coughing and taking even quicker breaths.  When she thought she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen and her own fear, she was lifted off the ground and turned around.

"Andrea, Andrea!"

It was Riddick.  Andrea threw her arms around his neck before she knew what she was doing, crying into his shoulder and still trying to catch her breath.

"Hey," he pulled her away, held her face in his hands.  "You have to breathe.  Look at me, now take deep breaths."

He wasn't dead, he was alive!  Andrea forced the air into her lungs, then expelled it with just as much force.  A few more of those and her head was no longer spinning, and she knew she wasn't going to pass out.

"Christ!" she said, when she found she could once again speak.  "I fucking thought whatever that was had eaten you and was coming after me!

"Just a normal forest bobcat," Riddick told her.  "Come on, we aren't too far from the ship."  He released her, began walking, slower so Andrea could keep up.  The wood was now pitch black, so Andrea couldn't see two inches in front of her face.  She held onto Riddick's arm, allowing him to lead her to the safety and familiar surroundings of her wrecked ship.

After what seemed like ages of moving through the darkness, the two burst into the open field.  It wasn't yet night, though in the woods, it was impossible to tell.  The sky was navy blue, but not black.  Two moons hung one over the other, both in full.  One was blood red, the other nearly a purple color.

"Look at that," Andrea remarked.  "I've never seen a purple moon before."

"Me neither," Riddick agreed.

When she caught sight of the ship, Andrea started running.  "Oh, my baby!" she yelled.  "How I've missed you!"  Diving in through the hole in the back, she picked her way into the kitchen area, thanking whatever gods were listening that they still had power.

Riddick walked in a few minutes later, goggles placed securely back over his eyes.  "Does the InstaMeal work?"

Andrea punched in a few numbers, brought out two full mugs of beer.  "I think we deserve these," she said, handing one to Riddick.  "Now, what to eat?"

Hitting a few more buttons, she produced two bowls of steaming stew.  "This okay?"

"Perfect," Riddick said, a smile gracing his face for a moment.  He took one of the bowls from her, digging hungrily into it.

They were done in record time, both being too hungry to bother with small talk as they ate.  When they were finished, Andrea went to the cockpit to see what, besides the breach in the hull, was wrong with the ship.  Riddick went off to see what he could find to aid them in their search on the planet.

Andrea sat in the pilot's seat of the cockpit, her knees drawn up to her chest, staring out at the growing number of stars.  It was so different, looking at them afar, instead of being up there with them.  Andrea hated being on planets, she always had.  Her ship had been her life since she bought her.  She sighed heavily, resting her head on her drawn up knees.  The ship was inoperable.  It had power, but the nav system was destroyed by the satellite, and the thrusters were crushed in the crash itself.  The only thing it had now was light, and the appliances worked.

A cold shudder worked its way up her spine.  A crippling, irrational fear bore down on her, causing her to break out in a sweat.  She was trapped.  Trapped on a planet, that may or may not be inhabited, with a man she had only just met.  Riddick may have changed, but he was still dangerous, still a killer.  She trusted him because she had to... or did she?  Did she trust him for other reasons?

She heard a boot hitting the floor, knew Riddick was standing in the doorway.  She didn't turn around.

"Well?" he asked.

Sill staring out the window, she answered in a defeated tone.  "It's trashed.  The lights work, the shower works, the kitchen stuff works... but she won't ever fly again."

Riddick remained silent, gazing out the window of the cockpit in thought.  "We have another problem," he finally said.  "Not really a problem... only if we want it to be."

"What's that?"

"Your bed was fucked up real bad in the crash.  I tried to flip it over, but two of the legs are broken, and there's a broom shoved through the middle of the mattress.  That means that we have my bed, and that's all."

Andrea finally turned away from the starry night sky, spun the chair around with her hands to face Riddick.  He couldn't help but notice how much she looked like a little girl with her legs up to her chest.  She looked at him, a sadness growing on her face, and lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug.  "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be alone tonight," she admitted.

He nodded, then walked to sit beside her in the co-pilot's chair.  "Is it because of the bobcat?"

"No... yes... I don't know."  She hugged her legs as another chill worked its way up her spine.  "That's part of it, I guess."

Riddick merely nodded.  "We should get some sleep.  We have a lot of walking to do tomorrow."  He stood up, waited for Andrea.  She unfolded her legs, pushed herself out of the chair.  Following Riddick out of the cockpit, she realized he had seen her most vulnerable side that night, and had understood.  She stopped in her room first, rummaged through her belongings that were scattered all over the floor, finally found a pair of cammo lounge pants and dark green tank top.

"Do you mind if I shower first?" she asked.

Riddick shook his head.  "If you can find the shower, go for it."

Andrea picked her way through the mess that was her room to the bathroom.  She had force the door open, found when she did that the mirror had broken and lay in shards of glass all over the floor.  Turning around, she ripped the broom out of the center of her mattress, and swept all the glass into a far corner.  Then, she took a shower.

The hot water helped a little to wash away the fear and claustrophobia she had felt since the crash.  When she finally felt clean, she shut off the water, dried quickly, dressed, and nearly ran, tripping over the things on the floor to get to Riddick's room.

It was a panicky fear she was feeling, being trapped on the planet.  All she knew for sure was that she did not want to be alone... at all.  _Christ,_ her mind muttered.  _It's irrational.  What do I have to be afraid of?_

Riddick was sitting on his bed, leafing through a book he had found somewhere.  "My turn?" he asked.

Andrea nodded.  "Be careful though.  The mirror broke, and I swept up most of the glass, but there may be still a few pieces on the floor."

He nodded, and walked in the direction of the shower.

Feeling scared again, Andrea curled up on the left side of the bed, took calming, deep breaths.  She felt as though she were suffocating.  _I'm having a panic attack,_ she realized, starting to gasp for air.  She threw her legs over the side of the bed, leaned over and took deep, choking breaths.  _You fucking pansy!_ She silently berated herself.  _You're only on a planet.  There has GOT to be people on it somewhere, and you're freaking out... because why?_

_Because that's what Carolyn probably thought when the Hunter-Gratzner crashed..._ her mind answered.

That thought made her begin to sob.  Loud, choking sobs that wracked her body and made her feel weaker and more vulnerable that she ever felt in her life.  She didn't even notice Riddick come back from taking his shower until his strong hands gripped her shoulders and she was pulled into the comfort of his arms.

He didn't say anything as the sobs subsided, and she was finally able to breathe normally again.  Then, he spoke.

"Listen to me, Andrea."  His voice was soft, but low and gruff as usual.  "We aren't in trouble.  A place as rich in vegetation as this has to have settlers."

"What if it's like the other planet, though?"  She cursed herself for how small her own voice sounded.

Riddick reached down and tilted her face up, forcing her to stare into his ungoggled eyes.  The expression on his face was serious and sober.  "It's not.  If it were, they'd already have gotten in here and killed us both.  No, this ain't that other planet.  We'll get off this rock.  We just need to cover more ground.  Tomorrow we'll go the other direction."  He released her, and Andrea couldn't help feeling that she was much safer in his arms.

She crawled under the covers, the fatigue from walking finally catching up with her.  Riddick stretched out on his side of the bed, flat on his back, wearing only his boxers.

"Lights off," he commanded, and the room was bathed in darkness.  Andrea closed her eyes, willing sleep to take her quickly.  It did, and within a few moments, she was breathing regularly.

Riddick gazed at her from where he lay.  He hadn't expected her to react to the crash the way she did.  She had much more of an inner strength that Carolyn did, but she wasn't afraid to be afraid, unlike Carolyn, who felt that she had to hide all her fear.  In that way, Carolyn was more like Riddick.  But in every other way, this woman who slept beside him was a kindred spirit.

Feeling that sleep was a long way off, Riddick slid off the bed without disturbing Andrea, and made his way to the cockpit.  He knew the kind of ship Andrea bought.  It was a standard model.  Sure, Andrea had juiced it up with extra features, but it was still standard, and the one thing that all standard ships had were conventional paper maps.  He went to the right side of the cockpit, found the small cubbyhole.  It wouldn't open, so he banged the side of the ship, not so loud as to wake Andrea, and the lid popped off.

"Now," he whispered to himself as he found the maps.  "What planet between Narwok and New Mecca has two moons, one of them being purple?"  He scanned the maps, ruling out desert planets, and the ones he knew well.

"Hmm," he rumbled.  "Tharbid.  Two moons... looks like it could be purple... rich in vegetation... home to... aw shit."  He sighed.  They were in deep, deep trouble.

He shoved the maps aside, stared blankly out the window of the cockpit.  _Tharbid,_ he thought.  _Of all the fuckin' planets in this universe... why did it have to be Tharbid?_  Standing up, he walked slowly back to the room he was now sharing with Andrea.  _She had a panic attack simply thinking she was stuck on a planet like T2.  What's she gonna do when she finds out we're on Tharbid?_

Standing at the foot of the bed, he gazed at her, sleeping fitfully.  She tossed and turned, moaned and cried out.  "That's some nightmare," he whispered to himself.  He was a fool if he didn't admit that he was attracted to her.  Andrea was like Carolyn and himself rolled into one person.. one sexy, beautiful person.  And it had been six months.  The ghost of Carolyn still haunted him, but not as a woman he loved.  No, the ghost of Carolyn haunted him as a reminder that six people died because he failed to protect them.

Riddick made a decision then.  He crawled into the bed, carefully, and wrapped an arm around the waist of Andrea.  She seemed to settle immediately, relaxing into him.  _Damn,_ Riddick thought.  _Never thought I'd have that kind of impact._  He finally drifted off to sleep, Andrea's berry-scented shampooed hair lingering in his nose.


End file.
